It's not often investors come across an ASX share that the analyst community doesn't have an opinion on.
So when you find a gem that no one else seems to have noticed, you run with it.
This is the situation Collins Street Asset Management chief investment officer Vasilios Piperoglou finds himself in.
"Astron Pty Ltd (ASX: ATR) is an interesting explorer and hopefully about to be producer," he told a Reach Markets video.
"It's interesting in so much as… it is clearly under the radar. Because no broker follows them yet."
Image source: Getty Images
'Tier-one asset in a tier-one jurisdiction'
Astron is a resources company that seeks to produce zircon and titanium from mineral sands mining activities.
The current focus is the Donald Mineral Sands Project in Victoria, which Piperoglou has high hopes for.
"They have a very large, I believe one of the world's largest, undeveloped zirconium and rare earth projects.
"It has a potential 50-year mine life. You could argue it's a tier-one asset in a tier-one jurisdiction."
He added that Astron has all its approvals in place, except for the final mine site permit, which he expects early in the new year.
The company bought $18 million of water rights for the site a couple of years back, which have since doubled in value, according to Piperoglou.
"It's ticked all the boxes, and they will be releasing their final DFS [definitive feasibility study] early next year."
Who knows what it will be worth in the future
Collins Street Asset Management gained exposure to Astron after recently issuing it with convertible notes.
Regardless of this or buying shares directly, Piperoglou reckons investors are in for a good time.
"The brokers have not cottoned onto the company… With these types of companies, it's very hard to put a valuation."
But how much upside does the Collins Street team think Astron shares have?
"What do we think Astron is worth on a per-share basis? I actually don't know," said Piperoglou.
"We haven't done a precisely specific NPV [net present value] ourselves. The reason being, we think it's at multiples to what it currently is."
The Astron share price has climbed 18.75% so far this year.
The Hong Kong company is listed as a CHESS depositary interest, which means one ASX stock represents one actual share.
